Kurdistan confirms first case of COVID-19 in Duhok province

The Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Health on Thursday confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the province of Duhok, bringing the number to 40 cases in the autonomous region.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Health on Thursday confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the province of Duhok, bringing the number to 40 cases in the autonomous region.

The infected person in Duhok is a 50-year-old man, who had returned from Germany, the Ministry announced in a statement without providing further details.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has so far confirmed 40 cases of the coronavirus in total, including one dead and 13 fully recovered.

The KRG has enacted various precautionary measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the region such as temporarily closing schools, declaring extended public holidays for government employees, and canceling all religious services and other public gatherings.

The government had also announced a curfew in the Kurdistan Region, first for 48 hours and then extended to 72 hours.

On Wednesday, at the request of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Interior decided to extend the curfew for five more days. According to the KRG’s health authorities, the curfews had been very effective to contain the outbreak of coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany